Analyzing Heartland Express (HTLD) & Its Rivals

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) is one of 100 public companies in the “Ground Transportation” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its rivals? We will compare Heartland Express to similar companies based on the strength of its earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and valuation.

Dividends

Heartland Express pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Heartland Express pays out -50.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Ground Transportation” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.6% and pay out 27.0% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Heartland Express and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Heartland Express	3	4	0	0	1.57
Heartland Express Competitors	1362	6527	8695	266	2.47

Heartland Express currently has a consensus target price of $11.80, suggesting a potential upside of 16.95%. As a group, “Ground Transportation” companies have a potential upside of 20.82%. Given Heartland Express’ rivals stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Heartland Express has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Heartland Express and its rivals gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Heartland Express	$719.24 million	-$52.45 million	-63.06
Heartland Express Competitors	$9.30 billion	$911.04 million	5.93

Heartland Express’ rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Heartland Express. Heartland Express is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

53.5% of Heartland Express shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.4% of shares of all “Ground Transportation” companies are held by institutional investors. 41.6% of Heartland Express shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 15.2% of shares of all “Ground Transportation” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Heartland Express has a beta of 1.39, meaning that its share price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Heartland Express’ rivals have a beta of 1.15, meaning that their average share price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Heartland Express and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Heartland Express	-1.77%	0.30%	0.19%
Heartland Express Competitors	6.91%	12.57%	3.99%

Summary

Heartland Express rivals beat Heartland Express on 12 of the 15 factors compared.

Heartland Express Company Profile

Heartland Express, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a short-to-medium, and long-haul truckload carrier in the United States and Canada. It primarily provides nationwide asset-based dry van truckload service for shippers; cross-border freight and other transportation services; and temperature-controlled truckload services. The company offers its services under the Heartland Express and Millis Transfer brand names. It primarily serves retailers and manufacturers in consumer goods, appliances, food products, and automotive industries. The company was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in North Liberty, Iowa.